42% kids in 6-15 age group have mild depression: Patiala hospital study

Tribune News Service

Karam Prakash

Patiala, February 28

In a descriptive study on variable of mental health conducted by an associate professor of Government Rajindra Hospital, it has been observed that children in the age group of 6-15 years have symptoms of depression.

Depression among young children is not a good sign of health, especially mental health. People at large should discuss depression and its consequences. — Dr Harshinder Kaur, Associate Professor

The study entitled “prevalence of depression among 6-15 years of age” revealed that around 42 per cent of children had mild depression in the Malwa region of the state. The research, already published in Annals of International Medical and Dental Research, concluded that almost every second child aged between 6-15 years showed signs of depression.

The study has been conducted on visitors to the OPD ward of the Paediatrics Department of the hospital. Ironically, none of the subjects of the study was aware of their condition of depression and had visited the OPD for some other ailments.

Associate Prof Dr Harshinder Kaur, who along with Dr Sukhmani Kaur, Dr Tejvir Singh and Dr Devina Singh, had conducted the study, said: “As many as 35 per cent of children had minimal symptoms, 42 per cent had mild and 10 per cent had moderate depression. Our study concludes that one of the causes of prevailing depression was the stress of study. High expectations of parents and teachers to perform better were the notable reasons for stress leading to depression.”

She further said 66 per cent of the children had feelings of tiredness as one of the symptoms of depression. Meanwhile, 52 per cent of the children had trouble falling asleep. Around 65 per cent had little or no interest in doing things.

She said: “Depression among young children is not a good sign of better health, especially mental health. People at large should discuss about the depression and its consequences.”

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